Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Unlock the Museum

You can set up a museum on your island in Animal Crossing New Horizons. It'll take a bit of work, though once you know how to convince Blathers to come to your island things you'll be done in no time. Here's how to get the museum.

On this page:

• How to Unlock the Museum in Animal Crossing New Horizons
• How to Build the Museum
• How Long Does the Museum Take to Build?
• Museum Layout
• What Can You Do in the Museum?

How to Unlock the Museum in Animal Crossing New Horizons

To get the museum for your island you'll need to speak to Tom Nook. Here's the steps that you should follow:

1. Donate 5 fish and/or bugs to Tom Nook
2. Set up a space for the museum
3. Wait for the next day for it to be built
4. Donate 15 more fish, bugs and/or fossils to Blathers (for a guide on fishing, head here)
5. Wait for the museum to be built

How to Build the Museum

After receiving a call from Blathers, Tom Nook will give you a construction kit. Head to the area you would like to build on and place it down. You'll get the option to visualize the build before committing, so take a look and see if everything looks good. Once you're happy with the location just accept the prompt, and you can lay down the construction space.

How Long Does the Museum Take to Build?

You won't have to wait long for the museum to be built. It'll only take two days, after which you can hang out with Blathers. Once Blathers is in town, he'll ask you to donate 15 new items to be displayed, these can be fossils, bugs or fish. For more on digging up fossils head here.

Museum Layout

There are three 'wings' to check out at the museum. One houses bugs, and includes a butterfly house. Another functions as an exhibit for the fossils you bring in, and you can see them displayed once you hand them in to Blathers. The final area is the aquarium. The aquarium is separated into freshwater and sea-dwelling creatures. You'll be able to see everything from mackerel to sea butterflies.

What Can You Do in the Museum?

The museum is there for you to donate any bugs, fish and fossils you find. Hand them in to Blathers and he'll display them for you. They will be immediately visible in their respective areas. You can wander around the museum and check out everything you've donated and can even learn facts about the items you hand in. Make sure you assess and donate anything you can to build the museum out.

For more on Animal Crossing New Horizons be sure to check out Mat's write up of the expanded clothing options. To read what we thought of the game as a whole you can read Caty's review.